CN109155361B - Adjustable Active Silicon for Coupler Linearity Improvement and Reconfiguration - Google Patents

Abstract

The electromagnetic coupler assembly includes a handle wafer having an oxide layer disposed on a first surface thereof. The active semiconductor layer is disposed on the oxide layer and includes a voltage terminal for receiving a supply voltage. A layer of dielectric material is disposed on the active semiconductor layer. The main transmission line is disposed on the layer of dielectric material. The coupled transmission line is disposed on the active semiconductor layer and is one of inductively coupled to the main transmission line and capacitively coupled to the main transmission line. At least a portion of one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line is disposed directly over at least a portion of the active semiconductor layer.

Description

Tunable Active Silicon for Coupler Linearity Improvement and Reconfiguration

Background technique

Electromagnetic couplers, such as radio frequency (RF) couplers, are used in a variety of applications to extract signals for measurement, monitoring, or other purposes. For example, an RF coupler may be included in the signal path between an RF source and a load (such as an antenna) to provide an indication of the forward RF power of an RF signal traveling from the RF source to the load and/or the back reflection from the load. indication of the RF power. An RF coupler typically has a power input port, a power output port, a coupling port, and an isolation port. An indication of forward RF power traveling from the power input port to the power output port is provided at the coupled port when the terminating impedance is presented to the isolated port. An indication of reverse RF power traveling from the power output port to the power input port is provided at the isolated port when a terminating impedance is presented to the coupled port. The termination impedance is usually achieved by a 50 ohm shunt resistor in various conventional RF couplers.

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a typical arrangement of an RF "front-end" subsystem 10 that may be used in a communication device such as a mobile telephone, for example for transmitting RF signals. The power amplifier 11 provides gain to the RF signal input to the subsystem, generating an amplified RF signal. Filter 12 is used to filter out unwanted frequencies from the amplified RF signal. The RF coupler 13 is used to extract a portion of the power from the RF signal traveling between the filter 12 and the antenna 14 . The antenna 14 transmits RF signals.

Contents of the invention

Aspects and embodiments relate to electronic systems, and more particularly to electromagnetic (EM) couplers.

According to one aspect, an electromagnetic coupler assembly is provided. An electromagnetic coupler assembly comprising a handle wafer comprising an oxide layer disposed on a first surface thereof, an active semiconductor layer disposed on the oxide layer and comprising voltage terminals for receiving a supply voltage, disposed on the active semiconductor layer The dielectric material layer, the main transmission line disposed on the dielectric material layer, and the coupling transmission line disposed on the dielectric material layer. The coupled transmission line is one of inductively coupled to the main transmission line and capacitively coupled to the main transmission line. At least a portion of one of the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line is disposed directly over at least a portion of the active semiconductor layer.

In some embodiments, the electromagnetic coupler assembly further includes a second layer of dielectric material disposed over one of the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line and below the other of the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line.

In some embodiments, the active semiconductor layer includes one of N-type silicon and P-type silicon.

In some embodiments, the voltage terminals are positioned on a single side of the main and coupled transmission lines.

In some embodiments, the voltage terminal surrounds the area under portions of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line.

In some embodiments, the active semiconductor layer is disposed under a portion of the main transmission line, but not under the coupling transmission line.

In some embodiments, the active semiconductor layer is disposed under a portion of the coupled transmission line, but not under the main transmission line.

In some embodiments, the active semiconductor layer includes a first portion disposed below a portion of the coupled transmission line and a second portion electrically isolated from the first portion and disposed below a portion of the main transmission line. In some embodiments, the electromagnetic coupler assembly includes a first voltage terminal in electrical communication with a first portion of the active semiconductor layer and a second voltage terminal in electrical communication with a second portion of the active semiconductor layer.

In some embodiments, the active semiconductor layer comprises a plurality of portions electrically isolated from each other, each portion of the plurality of portions being disposed below a different respective portion of the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line.

In some embodiments, each of the plurality of portions of the active semiconductor layer includes a respective voltage terminal.

In some embodiments, the voltage terminal comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being disposed below the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line, positioned in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the intended signal flows through one of the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line and the main transmission line At a position lateral to the first side of the coupled transmission line, the second portion is disposed below the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line in a second direction perpendicular to the direction in which the desired signal flows through one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line. and coupled at a location positioned laterally on the second side of the transmission line.

In some embodiments, the voltage terminal comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being disposed below the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line, positioned in a direction parallel to the direction in which the intended signal flows through one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line with the main transmission line At a position lateral to the first side of the coupled transmission line, the second portion is disposed below the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line in a second direction parallel to the direction in which the desired signal flows through one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line. and coupled to the second side of the transmission line at a location positioned laterally.

In some embodiments, the active semiconductor layer includes a doping concentration that varies in a direction perpendicular to the direction of intended signal flow through one of the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line.

In some embodiments, the active semiconductor layer includes a doping concentration that varies in a direction parallel to an intended direction of signal flow through one of the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line.

In some embodiments, applying the power supply voltage to the active semiconductor layer reduces the magnitude of the substrate effect in the electromagnetic coupler when the power supply voltage is not applied to the active semiconductor layer. magnitude of the effect.

According to another aspect, a packaging module is provided. The packaged module includes an electromagnetic coupler assembly. An electromagnetic coupler assembly comprising a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer comprising a handle wafer having an oxide layer disposed on a first surface thereof, an active semiconductor layer disposed on the oxide layer, disposed on the active semiconductor layer A voltage terminal to receive a supply voltage, a layer of dielectric material disposed on the active semiconductor layer, a main transmission line disposed on the layer of dielectric material, and a coupling transmission line disposed on the layer of dielectric material and configured to respond to receiving The coupled signal is provided on a coupled transmission line with an input signal received on the system, and at least a portion of one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line is formed over at least a portion of the active semiconductor layer. According to another aspect, an electronic device including a packaging module is provided. According to another aspect, a wireless communication device including a packaging module is provided.

According to another aspect, an electromagnetic coupler assembly is provided. The electromagnetic coupler assembly includes: a handle wafer including an oxide layer disposed on a first surface thereof; an active semiconductor layer disposed on at least a portion of the oxide layer, the active semiconductor layer including voltage terminals for receiving a power supply voltage , a dielectric layer disposed on the active semiconductor layer, and a coupler disposed on the dielectric layer, the active semiconductor layer extending at least partially under the coupler to electrically isolate the handle wafer from the coupler based on an applied supply voltage.

According to another aspect, a method of manufacturing an electromagnetic coupler assembly is provided. The method includes depositing a layer of dielectric material on an upper surface of an active semiconductor of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer, the wafer comprising the active semiconductor layer, a buried oxide layer disposed below the active semiconductor layer, and a buried oxide layer disposed on the buried oxide layer. a handle wafer below the object layer, forming electrical contact with the active semiconductor layer; forming a main transmission line above the layer of dielectric material; and forming a coupling transmission line above the layer of dielectric material, the coupling transmission line being configured to respond to receiving an input received on the main transmission line A coupled signal is provided on a coupled transmission line, at least a portion of one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line is formed over at least a portion of the active semiconductor layer.

In some embodiments, both the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line are formed in contact with the upper surface of the layer of dielectric material.

In some embodiments, the method further includes forming one of the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line in contact with the upper surface of the dielectric material layer, forming a second dielectric material layer on the dielectric material layer, and forming a second dielectric material layer on the second dielectric material layer. The main transmission line on the surface and the other one in the coupled transmission.

In some embodiments, one of the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line is formed over at least a portion of the active semiconductor layer, and the other of the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line is not formed over at least a portion of the active semiconductor layer.

In some embodiments, both the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line are formed over at least a portion of the active semiconductor layer.

In some embodiments, the method further includes removing at least a lower portion of the handle wafer.

Further aspects, embodiments and advantages of these exemplary aspects and embodiments are discussed in detail below. Embodiments disclosed herein may be combined with other embodiments in any manner consistent with at least one of the principles disclosed herein, and references to "embodiments," "some embodiments," "alternative embodiments," "each References to "one embodiment", "one embodiment", etc. are not necessarily mutually exclusive and are intended to indicate that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described can be included in at least one embodiment. These terms appearing herein are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

Description of drawings

Various aspects of at least one embodiment are discussed below with reference to the accompanying figures, which are not drawn to scale. The accompanying drawings are included to provide illustration and further understanding of various aspects and embodiments, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification but not as a definition of the limits of the invention. In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in various figures is represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every figure. In the picture:

Figure 1 is a block diagram of an example of a conventional RF front-end system that includes a single filter cascaded with an RF coupler;

Figure 2A is a simplified plan view of an arrangement of main and coupled lines in an RF coupler;

Figure 2B is a simplified plan view of another arrangement of main and coupled lines in an RF coupler;

Figure 2C is a simplified cross-sectional view of the main and coupled lines in the RF coupler of Figure 2B;

Figure 2D is a simplified plan view of another arrangement of main and coupled lines in an RF coupler;

Figure 3A is a simplified illustration of an embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

Figure 3B is a simplified plan view of the embodiment of Figure 3A;

Figure 4A is a simplified illustration of another embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

Figure 4B is a simplified plan view of the embodiment of Figure 4A;

Figure 5A is a simplified illustration of another embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

Figure 5B is a simplified plan view of the embodiment of Figure 5A;

Figure 5C is a simplified illustration of another embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

Figure 5D is a simplified plan view of the embodiment of Figure 5C;

Figure 5E is a simplified illustration of another embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

Figure 5F is a simplified plan view of the embodiment of Figure 5E;

Figure 5G is a simplified illustration of another embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

Figure 5H is a simplified plan view of the embodiment of Figure 5G;

Figure 5I is a simplified illustration of another embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

Figure 5J is a simplified plan view of the embodiment of Figure 5I;

Figure 6 is a simplified plan view of an embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

Figure 7 is a simplified plan view of another embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

Figure 8A is a simplified plan view of another embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

8B is a simplified cross-sectional view of the RF coupler structure of FIG. 8A;

Figure 9A is a simplified plan view of another embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

9B is a simplified cross-sectional view of the RF coupler structure of FIG. 9A;

Figure 10 is a simplified plan view of another embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

11A is a simplified plan view of another embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

11B is a simplified plan view of another embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

Figure 12 is a simplified plan view of another embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

Figure 13 is a simplified plan view of another embodiment of an RF coupler structure;

14 is a block diagram of one example of a module including a coupler according to aspects of the invention;

15 is a block diagram of one example of a wireless device including a coupler in accordance with aspects of the present invention;

Figure 16 is a block diagram illustrating a more detailed representation of one example of the wireless device of Figure 15;

Figure 17 shows the results of tests conducted on an embodiment of an RF coupler as disclosed herein.

Detailed ways

Aspects and embodiments disclosed herein include systems and methods for reducing substrate-induced nonlinearities in electromagnetic (EM) couplers, and devices incorporating such systems.

An EM coupler (referred to here simply as a "coupler") can be formed using two transmission lines (main and coupled) on, for example, a silicon (Si) handle wafer substrate or a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) handle wafer substrate to create a capacitive Coupling effects and inductive coupling effects. Substrate effects in a coupler can include capacitive effects from the capacitance between the coupler transmission line and the handle wafer substrate, and inductive effects due to induced inductive currents flowing in the handle wafer substrate, sometimes referred to as Called the "mirror effect". Inductive inductor currents flowing in the silicon handle wafer substrate can generate nonlinearities in the form of harmonics, such as but not limited to second order (2fo) harmonics (the second harmonic of the signal passing through the coupler transmission line). The buried oxide in the SOI substrate is an insulator that helps isolate the silicon substrate handle die from the coupler lines, reducing substrate effects but not completely eliminating them.

A coupler typically contains a main line carrying, for example, an RF signal, and a coupled line for obtaining an indication of the characteristics of the signal traveling through the main line. The main and coupled lines in a coupler can be arranged in various ways (eg, as shown in FIGS. 2A-2D ) to provide different relative degrees of capacitive and inductive coupling. It should be understood that the main and coupled lines, or portions thereof, in any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be displaced from each other in a plane parallel to the surface of the die containing them, and/or may be perpendicular to the surface of the die containing them. The surfaces of the die are displaced from each other in the plane and can form planar or three-dimensional couplers. Portions of the coiled main and coupled lines shown in FIG. 2B and other embodiments disclosed herein may be on different layers of the layer stack, or on different dielectric layers of the dielectric layer stack containing their die. Between, for example as shown in Figure 2C. The main and coupled wires as shown in FIG. 2B and other embodiments disclosed herein may coil around an axis perpendicular to the surface of the die containing them, may coil around an axis parallel to the surface of the die containing them. coiled, may be coiled about an axis angled with respect to the surface of the die containing them, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, although main and coupled lines are described herein, the metal structures forming the main and coupled lines need not be linear, but may have non-linear shapes.

A structure capable of reducing substrate effects in a coupler is shown generally at 100 in FIG. 3A . The coupler 105 including the main line 110 and the coupled line 115 is disposed on and in contact with the first dielectric layer 120 . Main line 110 and coupled line 115 may comprise a metal or a metal alloy including, for example, aluminum, copper, or other metallic or non-metallic conductors known in the art. Dielectric layer 120 may include or consist of, for example, silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, or other dielectrics known in the art. The dielectric layer 120 is disposed on and in contact with the active layer 125 . Active layer 125 is shown in FIG. 3A as comprising N-type silicon, but in other embodiments may be any form or combination of semiconductors known in the art. Contacts 130 (also referred to herein as “voltage terminals”) are provided in electrical communication and in physical contact with active layer 125 . Contact 130 allows voltage V1 to be applied to active layer 125 from an external voltage source (not shown). Contact 130 may comprise, for example, aluminum, copper, or other materials known in the art to be suitable for electrical contacts, or include a diffusion barrier and/or a diffusion barrier between the remainder of contact 130 and the interface between active layer 125. Adhesion layer 132, diffusion barrier and/or adhesion layer 132 is composed of titanium, titanium nitride, tantalum, tantalum nitride, indium oxide, tungsten carbide, or other diffusion barrier and/or adhesion layer materials known in the art . A buried dielectric layer 135 (eg, a buried silicon dioxide layer) is disposed under and in contact with the active layer 125 . A handle or support wafer 140 is disposed below and in contact with the buried dielectric layer 135 . In some embodiments, the handle wafer 140 is lightly doped or includes an intrinsic semiconductor, and thus is highly resistive, having a resistivity of, for example, about 1 kΩ-cm or higher. The combination of active layer 125, buried dielectric layer 135, and handle wafer 140 may be collectively referred to as an SOI substrate or SOI wafer. In some embodiments, handle wafer 140 may be thinned or ground flat during processing, such as by backgrinding.

Active layer 125 in combination with buried dielectric layer 135 may serve to electrically shield coupler 105 from handle wafer 140 to reduce or eliminate substrate effects present in coupler 105 due to the presence of handle wafer 140 . In use, when a negative voltage V1 is applied to the active layer 125, the active layer 125 becomes more conductive and acts like a ground plane to electrically shield the coupler 105 from the handle wafer 140 or to increase the coupling between the coupler 105 and the handle wafer 140. 105 is electrically shielded from the handle wafer 140. Without being bound by a particular theory, it is believed that applying a negative voltage to the N-type silicon of the active layer 125 increases the concentration of free electrons in the active layer 125 , thereby increasing the conductivity of the active layer 125 . Applying a negative voltage V1 to the active layer 125 improves the performance of the coupler 105 by improving the linearity of the coupler compared to the performance of the coupler 105 when no voltage V1 is applied to the active layer 125, for example, by reducing the The second harmonic generated by the induced current flowing in the handle wafer 140 .

A plan view of an embodiment of a coupler structure having a layer stack as shown in FIG. 3A is shown in FIG. 3B. In this figure, a first dielectric layer 120 is disposed on top of an active layer 125 in regions marked 120 , 125 . The view shown in FIG. 3A is a view along line 3A shown in FIG. 3B .

FIG. 4A shows an exemplary structure, shown generally at 100', that can reduce substrate effects in a coupler utilizing P-type silicon as the active layer 125. When the applied voltage V1 is positive, the conductivity of the active layer increases and the performance of the coupler 105 increases compared to the performance of the coupler 105 without the voltage V1 applied to the active layer 125 . As also shown in FIG. 4A , in some embodiments, active layer 125 may be disposed below main line 110 , but not necessarily coupled line 115 .

A plan view of an embodiment of a coupler structure having the layer stack shown in FIG. 4A is shown in FIG. 4B. In this figure, a first dielectric layer 120 is disposed on top of an active layer 125 in regions marked 120 , 125 . The view shown in FIG. 4A is a view along line 4A shown in FIG. 4B.

Using an active layer 125 that can be electrically biased to shield the coupler 105 from the handle wafer 140 rather than the ground plane can provide various advantages. In some embodiments, the active layer 125 provides lower insertion loss in the coupler 105 than the ground plane. The ground plane effect is permanent and its presence increases the ground parasitics of the coupler, so the insertion loss is higher. The use of active layer 125 and its adjustable bias allows optional use of active layer 125 as a ground plane. When no bias is applied (eg 0V/short or floating), there will be no additional parasitics from the coupler to the highly conductive active layer 125 (which behaves like a ground plane), so the insertion loss is lower. Moreover, the ability to bias the active layer 125 to different voltages allows one to customize the performance of the coupler 105, for example, by changing the inductive and capacitive characteristics of the coupler 105, resulting in a change in the coupling factor of the coupler 105, and/or Directivity of coupler 105 at different frequencies. In some embodiments, increasing the magnitude or absolute value of the applied voltage V1 (to a more negative voltage when the active layer 125 is N-type or to a more positive voltage when the active layer 125 is P-type) may The coupling factor of the coupler 105 is reduced.

In another embodiment, an additional dielectric layer may be provided below the main line 110 or coupled line 115 of the coupler 105 . For example, as shown generally at 200 in FIG. 5A , a dielectric layer 205 disposed below main line 110 and above coupled line 115 (or vice versa) may be disposed over one of main line 110 or coupled line 115 over main line 110 or One of the coupled lines 115 is passed over or under the other to produce a structure as shown in, for example, FIG. 2B . The dielectric layer 205 may include or consist of one or more materials that are the same as or different from the first dielectric layer 120 .

A plan view of an embodiment of a coupler structure having a layer stack as shown in FIG. 5A is shown in FIG. 5B. The first dielectric layer 120 is omitted from this figure to illustrate the positions of the active layer 125 and the dielectric layer 205 relative to the main line 110 and the coupled line 115 . In FIG. 5B , coupling line 115 is shown in dashed lines to indicate that it is below dielectric layer 205 . The view shown in FIG. 5A is a view along line 5A shown in FIG. 5B.

In another embodiment, as shown generally at 201 in FIG. 5C , the dielectric layer 205 is substantially or fully coextensive with the first dielectric layer 120 . A plan view of an embodiment of a coupler structure having the layer stack shown in FIG. 5C is shown in FIG. 5D. The first dielectric layer 120 is not shown separately in FIG. 5D because it is coextensive with and disposed below the dielectric layer 205 in the regions labeled 205 , 120 . In FIG. 5D , coupling line 115 is shown in dashed lines to indicate that it is below dielectric layer 205 . The view shown in FIG. 5C is a view along line 5C shown in FIG. 5D.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5E , generally at 202 , the dielectric layer 205 has one or more boundaries that extend beyond the one or more boundaries of the first dielectric layer 120 . Figure 5F shows a plan view of an embodiment of a coupler structure having the layer stack shown in Figure 5E. In FIG. 5F , coupling line 115 is shown in dashed lines to indicate that it is below dielectric layer 205 . The view shown in FIG. 5E is a view along line 5E shown in FIG. 5F.

In another embodiment, one or both of the dielectric layer 205 and the first dielectric layer 120 may be deposited over the contacts 130 , as shown generally at 203 in FIG. 5G . Vias 132 may be etched through one or both of dielectric layer 205 and first dielectric layer 120 to provide electrical contact to contacts 130 . The contacts 130 may be deposited before or after the vias 132 are etched. A plan view of an embodiment of a coupler structure having the layer stack shown in FIG. 5G is shown in FIG. 5H. In FIG. 5H , coupling line 115 is shown in dashed lines to indicate that it is below dielectric layer 205 . The view shown in FIG. 5G is a view along line 5G shown in FIG. 5H .

It should be understood that in any of the embodiments of the coupler structures disclosed herein, the main line 110 and the coupled line 115 need not have similar dimensions, such as width or thickness. In various embodiments, the main line 110 may be thinner, thicker, wider or narrower than the coupling line 115 . FIG. 5I shows an embodiment, shown generally at 204 , in which the main line 110 is wider and thinner than the coupled line 115 . FIG. 5I also shows that the coupled line 115 may be at least partially or completely disposed over the main line 110 . As shown, the coupled line 115 may be disposed directly over the main line 110 . In other embodiments, the main line 110 may be at least partially or completely (centered or not) disposed above the coupling line 115 . A plan view of an embodiment of a coupler structure having the layer stack shown in FIG. 5I is shown in FIG. 5J. In FIG. 5J , coupling line 115 is shown in dashed lines to indicate that it is below dielectric layer 205 . The view shown in FIG. 5I is a view along line 5I shown in FIG. 5J.

It should also be understood that in any of the embodiments of the coupler structures disclosed herein, the main line 110 and the coupled line 115 need not be straight lines as shown in FIGS. 4B, 5B, 5D, 5F, 5H and 5J, However, it may be formed as a coil or with concavo-convex portions, as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, respectively.

In some embodiments, coupler 105 is a bi-directional coupler. In various embodiments, the active layer 125 may be disposed under the entire coupler 105, only under the main line 110 of the coupler 105, only under the coupled line 115 of the coupler, or partially under the main line 110, the coupled line 115 or both below. In some embodiments, the active layer 125 may be square or rectangular in shape or patterned into a grid or comb structure. The doping level in the active layer 125 can be selected to control the optimal voltage V1 to be applied to produce the desired suppression of substrate effects in different parts of the coupler 105 . Contact 130 may be located at a different location or at a different distance from coupler 105 than shown in FIGS. 3-5J , and may have a different shape in different embodiments. For example, the contacts 130 may be in the form of point contacts, discs, lines, squares or rectangles, or another polygon. In some embodiments, the design of coupler 105 may dictate the desired location or configuration of contacts 130 .

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment where the contacts 130 are in the form of wires on one side of the coupler 105 . FIG. 7 shows an embodiment where the contacts 130 surround the area below the coupler 105 on the active layer 125 . 8A and 8B illustrate an embodiment in which the active layer 125 is formed under the main line 110, but the coupling line 115 and the contact 130 are not in the form of a line. 8B is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 8A taken along line 8B. 9A and 9B show an embodiment in which the active layer 125 is formed under the coupling line 115, but the main line 110 and the contact 130 are not in the form of a line, and FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view taken along line 9B of FIG. 9A.

Figure 10 shows an embodiment where the active area is patterned into two separate active areas 125A, 125B disposed under the main line 110 and the coupled line 115, respectively. Each active area 125A, 125 has an associated contact 130A, 130B, shown in line form in FIG. 10 . Voltages V2, V3 may be applied to respective contacts 130A, 130B. The voltages V2, V3 may be the same or different.

FIG. 11A shows an embodiment in which the active region is patterned as a plurality of separate active regions 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G disposed under different portions of the main line 110 and the coupled line 115 . Each separate active region 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G is disposed under a portion of both the main line 110 and the coupled line 115 . Active regions 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G have associated contacts 130C, 130D, 130E, 130F, 130G. Voltages V3, V4, V5, V6, and V7 may be applied to respective contacts 130C, 130D, 130E, 130F, 130G. Any one or more of voltages V3, V4, V5, V6 and V7 may be the same as or different from any other one or more of voltages V3, V4, V5, V6 and V7. In a variation of the embodiment of FIG. 11A , as shown in FIG. 11B , the active regions may form a comb-like structure in which the active regions 125C, 125D, 125E, 125F, 125G pass through one or more busbars with a single contact 130 strip 125H connection.

In other embodiments, the doping level or dopant concentration in active layer 125 and/or the bias voltage applied to active layer 125 through one or more contacts can be varied across active layer 125 and between A bias gradient effect is generated on the active layer 125 . As shown in FIG. 12 , the doping level of the active layer 125 may vary in a direction perpendicular to the signal propagation direction through the main line 110 and/or the coupled line 115 . A different voltage V8 may be applied to the contact 130H on the first side of the main line 110 and/or the coupled line 115 than the voltage V9 applied to the contact 130I on the second side of the main line 110, so as to be perpendicular to A bias gradient is generated in the active layer 125 in the direction of the signal propagation direction through the main line 110 and/or the coupling line 115 .

As shown in FIG. 13 , in another example, the doping level of the active layer 125 may vary in a direction parallel to the signal propagation direction through the main line 110 and/or the coupled line 115 . A different voltage V10 may be applied to the contact 130J on the first side of the main line 110 and/or the coupled line 115 and/or the coupled line than the voltage V11 applied to the contact 130K on the second side of the main line 110 115 to generate a bias gradient in the active layer 125 in a direction parallel to the signal propagation direction through the main line 110 and/or the coupling line 115 . The doping levels in FIGS. 12 and 13 are shown to vary monotonically with distance across the active layer 125, however, it should be understood that in other embodiments, the doping levels may be logarithmic, step function, or other desired manner. varies with the distance on the active layer 125 .

Although not shown in FIGS. 6-13, it should be understood that in these embodiments, a suitable insulator or dielectric layer (such as the first dielectric layer 120 shown in FIGS. 3-5J and/or FIGS. 5A-5J Dielectric layer 205 shown in ) electrically insulates main line 110 and coupled line 115 from each other, causes portions of main line 110 and coupled line 115 to overlap each other, and separates main line 110 and coupled line 115 from contact(s) 130 and (multiple) a) active layers 125 overlap each other.

Tests were performed on a coupler similar to that shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B to determine the effect of applying a negative voltage bias to the active layer 125 on the second order (2fo) harmonic at 700 MHz. In the test device, the main line 110 and the coupling line 115 were formed of copper with a thickness of about 3 μm. The thickness of the oxide layer under the main line 110 and the coupling line 115 is about 5 μm. The thickness of the N-type active silicon layer is about 0.14 μm. The thickness of the buried oxide layer is about 1 μm. The thickness of the handle wafer is about 200 μm. The results of this test are shown in FIG. 17 . It can be seen that the magnitude of the second order harmonic decreases as the negative bias increases from -98.9dBm at zero volt bias to -101.1dBm at negative five volt bias. As the negative bias increases to negative ten volts, the magnitude of the second harmonic begins to increase. The magnitude of the second harmonic with active layer 125 biased to negative five volts is lower than that observed when active layer 125 is left floating or shorted to ground. These results demonstrate that applying a proper voltage bias on the active layer in the coupler structure, as disclosed herein, can effectively reduce the substrate effect and improve the performance of the coupler.

Embodiments of the coupler 100 described herein can be implemented in a variety of different modules including, for example, stand-alone coupler modules, front-end modules, modules combining couplers with antenna switching networks, impedance matching modules, antenna tuning modules, etc. . FIG. 14 shows one example of a module 300 that may incorporate any embodiment or example of a coupler discussed herein. Module 300 has a packaging substrate 302 configured to receive a plurality of components. In some embodiments, such a component may include a die 200 having one or more features as described herein. For example, die 200 may include power amplifier (PA) circuitry 202 and coupler 100 . Plurality of connection pads 304 may facilitate electrical connections, such as wire bonds 308 , to connection pads 310 on substrate 302 to facilitate various power and signal transfers to and from die 200 .

In some embodiments, other components may be mounted or formed on the packaging substrate 302 . For example, one or more surface mount components (SMT) 314 and one or more matching networks 312 may be implemented. In some embodiments, packaging substrate 302 may comprise a laminated substrate.

In some embodiments, module 300 may also contain one or more packaging structures, for example, to provide protection and to facilitate easier handling of module 300 . Such packaging structures may include an overmold formed over packaging substrate 302 , sized to substantially encapsulate the various circuits and components thereon.

It should be appreciated that although module 300 is described in the context of wire bond based electrical connections, one or more features of the present disclosure may also be implemented in other packaging configurations, including flip chip configurations.

Embodiments of couplers disclosed herein, optionally packaged into module 300, may be advantageously used in a variety of electronic devices. Examples of electronic devices may include, but are not limited to, consumer electronics, components of consumer electronics, electronic test equipment, cellular communication infrastructure such as base stations, and the like. Examples of electronic devices may include, but are not limited to, smartphones, telephones, televisions, computer monitors, computers, modems, handheld computers, notebook computers, tablet computers, e-book readers, wearable computers (such as smart watches), personal digital assistants ( PDA), microwave ovens, refrigerators, cars, stereo systems, DVD players, CD players, digital music players (such as MP3 players), radios, video cameras, still cameras, digital cameras, portable memory chips, healthcare monitoring devices, automotive electronics Systems (such as automotive electronics or avionics), washers, dryers, washer/dryers, peripherals, watches, clocks, etc. Additionally, electronic devices may contain unfinished products.

Figure 15 is a block diagram of a wireless device 400 including a coupler, according to some embodiments. Wireless device 400 may be a cellular phone, smart phone, tablet computer, modem, communication network, or any other portable or non-portable device configured for voice and/or data communications. Wireless device 400 includes antenna 440 to receive and transmit power signals and coupler 100, which may measure the strength of the transmitted signal and provide an indication of the measured strength to other circuit components for analysis purposes or to adjust subsequent transmissions. For example, coupler 100 may measure a transmit RF power signal from power amplifier (PA) 410 , which amplifies the signal from transceiver 402 . Transceiver 402 may be configured to receive and transmit signals in a known manner. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the power amplifier 410 may be a power amplifier module containing one or more power amplifiers. The wireless device 400 may also contain a battery 404 to provide operating power to various electronic components in the wireless device.

FIG. 16 is a more detailed block diagram of an example of a wireless device 400 . Wireless device 400 may receive and transmit signals from antenna 440 as shown. The transceiver 402 is configured to generate signals for transmission and/or process received signals. The generated signal for transmission is received by a power amplifier (PA) 418 , which amplifies the generated signal from transceiver 402 . In some embodiments, sending and receiving functions may be implemented in separate components (eg, a sending module and a receiving module), or in the same module. The antenna switching module 406 may be configured to switch between different frequency bands and/or modes, transmit and receive modes, and the like. As also shown in FIG. 16 , antenna 440 receives signals provided to transceiver 402 via antenna switching module 406 and also transmits signals from wireless device 400 via transceiver 402 , PA 418 , coupler 100 , and antenna switching module 406 . However, in other examples, multiple antennas may be used.

The wireless device 400 of FIG. 16 also includes a power management system 408 connected to the transceiver 402 that manages power for operation of the wireless device. Power management system 408 may also control the operation of baseband subsystem 410 and other components of wireless device 400 . The power management system 408 provides power to the wireless device 400 via the battery 404 in a known manner and contains one or more processors or controllers that can control the transmission of signals and can also configure the couplers based on, for example, the frequency of the signal to be transmitted. 100.

In one embodiment, the baseband subsystem 410 is connected to a user interface 412 to facilitate various inputs and outputs of voice and/or data to and received from a user. Baseband subsystem 410 may also be coupled to memory 414 configured to store data and/or instructions to facilitate operation of the wireless device and/or provide storage of information to a user.

Power amplifier 418 may be used to amplify various RF or other frequency band transmission signals. For example, power amplifier 418 may receive an enable signal that may be used to pulse the output of the power amplifier to facilitate transmission of wireless local area network (WLAN) signals or any other suitable pulsed signal. Power amplifier 418 may be configured to amplify any of various types of signals including, for example, Global System for Mobile (GSM) signals, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) signals, W-CDMA signals, Long Term Evolution (LTE) signals, or EDGE Signal. In some embodiments, the power amplifier 110 and associated components including switches and the like may be fabricated on a GaAs substrate using, for example, pHEMT or BiFET transistors, or on a silicon substrate using CMOS transistors.

Still referring to FIG. 16 , the wireless device 400 may also include a coupler 100 having one or more directional EM couplers for measuring the transmit power signal from the power amplifier 418 and for providing one or more EM couplers to the sensor module 416. a coupled signal. The coupler 100 shown in FIG. 16 may be any of the couplers 100, 100', 200, etc. described with reference to FIGS. 1-13. The sensor module 416 may in turn send information to the transceiver 402 and/or directly to the power amplifier 418 as feedback for adjustments to adjust the power level of the power amplifier 418 . In this way, the coupler 100 can be used to boost/reduce the power of transmitted signals having relatively low/high power. However, it should be understood that coupler 100 may be used in various other implementations.

In certain embodiments where wireless device 400 is a mobile phone with a time division multiple access (TDMA) architecture, coupler 100 may advantageously manage the amplification of the RF transmit power signal from power amplifier 418 . In mobile phones with Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) architectures, such as those found in Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) systems, the power Amplifier 418 may be used to shift the power envelope up and down within specified limits of power versus time. For example, specific mobile telephones may be assigned transmission slots on specific frequency channels. In this case, the power amplifier 418 may be used to help adjust one or more RF power signal power levels over time in order to prevent transmit signal interference and reduce power consumption during designated receive time slots. In such a system, coupler 100 may be used to measure the power of the power amplifier output signal to help control power amplifier 418, as described above. The implementation shown in Figure 16 is exemplary and not limiting. For example, the embodiment of FIG. 16 shows coupler 100 used in conjunction with the transmission of RF signals, however, it should be understood that the various examples of integrated filter couplers discussed herein may also be used with received RF or other signals. .

The phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As used herein, the term "plurality" refers to two or more items or components. Whether in the written specification or in the claims etc., the terms "comprising", "comprising", "carrying", "having", "containing" and "involving" are open-ended terms, that is, meaning " including but not limited to". Accordingly, use of these terms is meant to include the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof, as well as additional items. Only the transitional phrases "consisting of" and "consisting essentially of" are respectively closed or semi-closed transitional phrases with respect to claims. The use of an ordinal term such as "first", "second", "third" etc. in a claim to modify a claim element does not in itself imply any priority, priority or order, or chronological order in which the acts of the method are performed, but are used only as labels to distinguish a claim element with a particular name from another element with the same name (if an ordinal term is not used), to distinguish a claim element.

Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment, it is to be appreciated various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Any feature described in any embodiment may be included in, or replaced by, any feature of any other embodiment. Any alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of illustration only.

Claims (23)

1. An electromagnetic coupler assembly, comprising:

a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer comprising a handle wafer having an oxide layer disposed on a first surface thereof, an active semiconductor layer disposed on the oxide layer;

a dielectric material layer disposed on the active semiconductor layer;

a main transmission line disposed on the dielectric material layer; and

a coupling transmission line disposed on the dielectric material layer and configured to provide a coupling signal on the coupling transmission line in response to receiving an input signal received on the main transmission line, at least a portion of the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line disposed over at least a portion of the active semiconductor layer,

a voltage terminal disposed on the active semiconductor layer to receive a power supply voltage, the voltage terminal including a first portion disposed below the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line at a position disposed laterally to a first side of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line in a direction parallel to a direction in which an intended signal flows through one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line, and a second portion disposed below the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line at a position disposed laterally to a second side of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line in a direction parallel to a direction in which the intended signal flows through one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line.

2. The electromagnetic coupler assembly of claim 1, further comprising a second layer of dielectric material disposed above one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line and below the other of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line.

3. The electromagnetic coupler assembly of claim 1, wherein the active semiconductor layer comprises one of N-type silicon and P-type silicon.

4. The electromagnetic coupler assembly of claim 1, wherein the voltage terminal is located on a single side of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line.

5. The electromagnetic coupler assembly of claim 1, wherein the voltage terminal surrounds an area beneath a portion of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line.

6. The electromagnetic coupler assembly of claim 1, wherein the active semiconductor layer is disposed under a portion of the main transmission line but not under the coupled transmission line.

7. The electromagnetic coupler assembly of claim 1, wherein the active semiconductor layer is disposed under a portion of the coupled transmission line but not under the main transmission line.

8. The electromagnetic coupler assembly of claim 1, wherein the active semiconductor layer comprises: a first portion disposed below a portion of the coupled transmission line; and a second portion electrically isolated from the first portion and disposed below a portion of the main transmission line.

9. The electromagnetic coupler assembly of claim 8, comprising a first voltage terminal in electrical communication with a first portion of the active semiconductor layer and a second voltage terminal in electrical communication with a second portion of the active semiconductor layer.

10. The electromagnetic coupler assembly of claim 1, wherein the active semiconductor layer comprises a plurality of portions electrically isolated from one another, each of the plurality of portions disposed under a different respective portion of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line.

11. The electromagnetic coupler assembly of claim 10, wherein each of the plurality of portions of the active semiconductor layer includes a respective voltage terminal.

12. The electromagnetic coupler assembly of claim 1, wherein said active semiconductor layer comprises a doping concentration that varies along a direction perpendicular to an intended signal flow direction through one of said main transmission line and said coupled transmission line.

13. The electromagnetic coupler assembly of claim 1, wherein the active semiconductor layer comprises a doping concentration that varies along a direction parallel to an intended signal flow direction through one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line.

14. The electromagnetic coupler assembly of any of the preceding claims, wherein applying the supply voltage to the active semiconductor layer reduces a magnitude of a substrate effect in the electromagnetic coupler assembly as compared to a magnitude of the substrate effect in the electromagnetic coupler when the supply voltage is not applied to the active semiconductor layer.

15. A packaged module, comprising:

an electromagnetic coupler assembly, the electromagnetic coupler assembly comprising:

a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer comprising a handle wafer having an oxide layer disposed on a first surface thereof,

an active semiconductor layer disposed on the oxide layer,

a dielectric material layer disposed on the active semiconductor layer,

a main transmission line disposed on the dielectric material layer, an

A coupling transmission line disposed on the dielectric material layer and configured to provide a coupled signal on the coupling transmission line in response to receiving an input signal received on the main transmission line, at least a portion of the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line being disposed over at least a portion of the active semiconductor layer,

a voltage terminal disposed on the active semiconductor layer to receive a power supply voltage, the voltage terminal including a first portion disposed below the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line at a position disposed laterally to a first side of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line in a direction parallel to a direction in which an intended signal flows through one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line, and a second portion disposed below the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line at a position disposed laterally to a second side of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line in a direction parallel to a direction in which the intended signal flows through one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line.

16. An electronic device comprising the packaged module of claim 15.

17. A wireless communication device comprising the encapsulation module of claim 15.

18. A method of manufacturing an electromagnetic coupler assembly, comprising:

depositing a layer of dielectric material on an upper surface of an active semiconductor of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer, the wafer comprising the active semiconductor layer, a buried oxide layer disposed below the active semiconductor layer, and a handle wafer disposed below the buried oxide layer;

forming an electrical contact to the active semiconductor layer;

forming a main transmission line over the layer of dielectric material; and

forming a coupled transmission line over the layer of dielectric material, the coupled transmission line configured to provide a coupled signal on the coupled transmission line in response to receiving an input signal received on the main transmission line, at least a portion of one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line being formed over at least a portion of the active semiconductor layer,

the electrical contact includes a first portion disposed below the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line at a location disposed transverse to a first side of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line in a direction parallel to a direction of expected signal flow through one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line, and a second portion disposed below the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line at a location disposed transverse to a second side of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line in a direction parallel to a direction of expected signal flow through one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line are both formed in contact with an upper surface of the layer of dielectric material.

20. The method as recited in claim 18, further comprising:

forming one of the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line in contact with an upper surface of the dielectric material layer;

forming a second layer of dielectric material over the layer of dielectric material; and

the other of the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line is formed on an upper surface of the second dielectric material layer.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein one of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line is formed over at least a portion of the active semiconductor layer and the other of the main transmission line and the coupled transmission line is not formed over at least a portion of the active semiconductor layer.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the main transmission line and the coupling transmission line are both formed over at least a portion of the active semiconductor layer.

23. The method of claim 18, further comprising removing at least a lower portion of the handle wafer.

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